Browsing by Author "Ritter, Elizabeth Ann"

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    Dene Sųłiné Non-Segmental Morphology: Implications for Morphological Theory
    (2023-06) Tufts, Kody; Pounder, Amanda; Flynn, Darin Mathew; Pounder, Amanda; Flynn, Darin Mathew; Ritter, Elizabeth Ann; Stump, Gregory Thomas
    In this thesis, I undertake an analysis of the verbal morphology of Dene Sųłiné (Na-Dene, North-Central Canada) with a specific focus on two inflectional phenomena implementing non-segmental features of tone and nasality to mark distinctions of aspect and agreement. I critique existing accounts of these phenomena, which attempt to reduce both to affixal morphology, and investigate an alternative treatment as processes of non-concatenative morphology. Non-concatenative morphology holds theoretical interest as one of a variety of phenomena provided as evidence for an autonomous Morphology. In light of this interest, I develop and evaluate analyses of Dene Sųłiné’s non-segmental exponents, applying two theoretical frameworks exemplifying a major divide in thinking on morphological theory: Paradigm Function Morphology (PFM) and Distributed Morphology (DM). PFM recognizes an autonomous Morphology, an essential theoretical role for paradigms, and distinctly morphological Rules of Exponence. Conversely, DM posits a basic equivalence of syntax and morphology, recognizes no theoretical status for the paradigm and attempts to restrict morphological exponence to affixation. I test applications of PFM and DM to Dene Sųłiné’s non-segmental exponents, basing analyses on existing data and novel elicitations of Wollaston Lake Dene Sųłiné. Theoretical applications reveal characteristics of these non-segmental exponents challenging accounts in both frameworks. In particular, I identify a noteworthy “look-ahead” problem pertaining to the selection of the tonal exponent. This look-ahead problem seems best characterized as the sensitivity of a less-peripheral exponent to the phonology of a more-peripherally-applying exponent, a situation I argue both frameworks are challenged to address. Novel data from the Wollaston Lake dialect further complicates the account of this exponent’s selection, while also revealing a decreased role for affixation in the verbal morphology, suggesting an increase in the informational load assumed by non-concatenative processes. In addition to the challenges presented to the DM account by the tonal exponent’s formal quality, I present arguments against DM theorists’ claims that Dene surface morphotactics can be reasonably taken to derive from assumed universals of syntactic structure. I ultimately find that the formal and distributional characteristics of these exponents recommend a distinctly morphological account, not a reductionist, “syntacticocentric” one.
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    Investigating Raising Structures in Turkish
    (2021-07-28) Oğuz, Metehan; Storoshenko, Dennis Ryan; Ritter, Elizabeth Ann; O'Brien, Mary Grantham
    Even though the Turkish predicate gibi görün “seem”, which consists of a Postposition (gibi “like”) + Verb (görün “appear”) sequence, is analyzed as a raising predicate, there is a disagreement on the details of the raising operation. While Moore (1998) suggests that Copy-raising is observed with the predicate, Öztürk (2008) (among others) suggests that the operation observed is Standard Raising. Though they differ in the details of their analyses, these two approaches agree that the predicate gibi görün does not assign an external theta role. However, the current study reports that sentences such as (1) are acceptable (for some speakers) in Turkish. (1) [Ali [sen kazan-mış-sın] gibi görünüyor] Ali you win-PAST-2PS like seem Lit.: “Ali seems like you won.” Sentences like (1) violate the Theta Theory (Chomsky, 1981), if gibi görün is analyzed as a predicate that does not assign an external theta role. While the embedded subject gets its theta role from the embedded verb, the matrix subject is left without any theta role. This shows that the existing approaches to raising in Turkish are not able to account for sentences like (1), and a revision is needed. The existing approaches to Raising in Turkish also differ in their assumptions of (un-)acceptability of some Turkish sentences, which affects their analyses. To provide reliable Turkish data for the analysis, the current study collects relevant data from native Turkish speakers by conducting an experiment with a Contextual Acceptability Task. The results of the experiment suggest that sentences like (1) are acceptable for some Turkish native speakers, while it is unacceptable for others. The current study suggests (i) that the predicate gibi görün is lexicalized as a unit, disallowing most speakers to process gibi as a postposition anymore, (ii) Copy-Raising (of Landau (2011)) is observed in Turkish with sentences like (1), in which postposition gibi needs to be processed and the predicate is able to assign the P-source external theta role, and (iii) that inability of some speakers to decompose the lexicalized predicate gibi görün blocks them from applying the Copy-Raising (of Landau) and derive sentences like (1).
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    Knowledge and Grounding: The syntax of discourse particles in Swiss German
    (2023-12-20) Shapkin, Shayne; Ritter, Elizabeth Ann; Skordos, Dimitrios; Heim, Johannes
    This thesis examines the properties and distributions of three Swiss German grounding particles – gäll, weisch and oder – as part of an exploration of two longstanding questions about the syntactic structure of interactional content. First, how, and in what order, does the syntax represent addressee- and speaker-oriented functional categories? Second, what kind of relationship does the syntactic layer that represents interactional content have with the layer that represents propositional content? In answer to the first question, I argue based on the Swiss German facts that the addressee-oriented functional category has a higher structural position than the speaker-oriented functional category. I also demonstrate that Swiss German grounding particles serve to encode interlocutors’ knowledge/ignorance of the truth of propositions. In answer to the second question, I show a) that the speaker-oriented functional category selects the clause type of the propositional structure, and b) that Swiss German relies on the content of the specifier of the highest propositional category (i.e., Spec, ForceP) to determine which propositional constituents are eligible for movement into the interactional layer. In this way, Swiss German Spec, ForceP serves as a gateway between the discourse-sensitive interactional layer and the content of the propositional structure.
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    On Indefinite Singular Generics
    (2023-06-06) Goddard, Quinn; Liebesman, David; Liebesman, David; Ritter, Elizabeth Ann; Storoshenko, Dennis Ryan
    Consider a simple statement like 'A dog has four legs', which, under a generic reading, is an example of an Indefinite Singular (IS) generic. Different varieties of generics are differentiated by their subject nominal type; for instance, English has both the indefinite singular and bare plural (BP) generic (e.g. 'Dogs have four legs'). Crucially, IS generics have a more limited distribution than their BP counterparts. A myriad of theories have been posited to explain this, characterizing IS generics as expressing, inter alia, “rules and regulations” (Cohen, 2001), or “in-virtue-of” (Greenberg, 2003), “non-accidental” (Lawler, 1973) or “definitional” (Krifka, 2013) properties. However, no existing account captures the full variety of data. I introduce the idea that IS generics discuss samples (Elgin, 1983; Goodman, 1976) (objects which exemplify one or more properties in a given context), or more specifically abstract samples, which are mental entities. Uttering an IS generic is argued to constitute a speech act that contributes an abstract sample to the discourse, one which is deemed felicitous if it is judged to be a “good sample”, that is, one which is reflective of the kind so as to not seem like “false advertising”. Speaker intent selects the exemplified properties, as well enforces that they are characteristic of the kind (at least according to the speaker’s point of view). This degree of speaker commitment to the generalization is precisely what distinguishes IS generics from their BP counterparts. I additionally argue that characterizations of truth evaluation for IS generics in terms of being “accepted by the language community” (Cohen, 2001, p. 199) are far too broad, and that instead acceptability should be judged on a much smaller (e.g. speaker-specific) scale, meaning the use and evaluation of an IS generic is relativized to individual perspective (cf. Mari, 2008).
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    When Articles Go Missing: Analyzing Optionality in Spanish Prepositional Relative Clauses
    (2022-09-15) Levinstein Rodriguez, Andrea; Storoshenko, Dennis Ryan; Ritter, Elizabeth Ann; Cuervo, Maria Cristina
    This thesis project presents a comprehensive overview of article optionality in Spanish prepositional relative clauses. This definite article, which is part of the operator phrase, is subject to a complex pattern of variation that regulates whether it can be present or absent in a given phrase. Through a mixture of experimental and formal analysis, this project investigates (i) the syntactic and semantic factors that influence the presence or absence of the article and (ii) the role of the article within the syntactic structure of Spanish prepositional relative clauses. A corpus study found that the article was significantly more likely to be absent when the antecedent of the relative clause was definite, inanimate, or plural, or when the embedded clause was not negated. In addition to these factors, a significant effect of preposition and an interaction between definiteness and the preposition en, which had not been attested in the literature, were found. Subsequently, an acceptability judgement task conducted on eighty-eight Mexican Spanish speakers showed higher acceptability ratings for article presence, definite antecedent, and the preposition en. The en:Definiteness interaction was replicated in post-hoc testing. Based on these results, I present a modified version of Cinque’s (2020) double-headed structure. I propose that prepositional relative clauses without the article follow Cinque’s matching analysis-like derivation, while those with the article contain a larger relative operator with a [+specific] feature, thus avoiding deletion. This project presents an updated understanding of an under-researched area of Spanish grammar. It provides empirical support to the claim that the presence or absence of the article is not a matter of free variation, and makes headway on identifying the factors that mediate the presence or absence of the article, as well as the mechanisms that underlie them.